New Post Hold Digger and how do you use yours?

[woodlandfarms]

Well, project is done.

Grand Cost....

$300 for the steel
$50 for bolts and paint
$200 for Wheel Motor
$150 for hoses and connectors
$250 for dual flight digger medium duty
950 Grand total (UGH!!!!!)

But it beats the $2200 that PT Wanted.

So I wanted to spend $500 on the project. I planned initially to buy a used 3 point and install a PTO Motor on it. But the motor and hoses would be the same cost where needed wether I made my own or adapted. And I probably would have spent money on steel as well just fabbing up a motor mount. Still, in deep dutch with the wife. Need tp put her fence up around her new garden and all will be well with the world.

So.....This bad boy is POWERFUL. Crazy powerful.

But it begs questions for those who have one. How do you use it. I seem to drill holes off center, I guess I need to roll back on the tractor as I dig. But I wondered how you guys did it.

 

[crash325]

Have your brakes unlocked so that you can rock the digger right to left to keep it going down vert. A little forward or reverse movement will be needed to keep it straight fore & aft. May have to dig a few holes to get them straight. Most of the time a little crooked is OK.

Congrats on a nice build, looks better & stronger than store bought. :thumbsup:

 

[Clumber]

Last year we had to put in 50 post holes. I payed a neighbor to provide his M-class kubota and 3 pt PHD. The PHD hangs loosely and needed to be manualy moved into position. Once the auger starts a person needs to monitor the plumb of the auger as it digs and directs the tractor operator to adjust the tractor position to keep the auger plum. Its really a two person task. That being said, I would not want to stand close to your bad boy.

 

[magicheater]

Practice will make your holes better. You have down pressure, which is a plus unlike 3PT units. You have an articulated tractor I believe and should be easier to keep your plumb. I got rid of my 3PT unit because it was just plain easier to dig them by hand when you factored in all the change over and over sizing the holes in the end anyway. Maybe a level indicator might help where you can see it. Ya did good! :thumbsup:

 

[xtn]

I got a PHD from everythingattachments that mounts on the 3pt behind my tractor and is PTO driven. I've decided that the arc it takes on the way down, and the ever so slightly oval shaped hole this causes, is no big deal. I don't know why anybody cares about perfect holes. The cement, dirt or other back-fill around the post will fit just fine anyway.

xtn

 

[woodlandfarms]

So there is the suggestion of a level, and I got it being a 2 man job.

But, How do you install a level that lets you know the pitch (front to back) when you are sitting on a seat? I guess a mirror gag might work but I bet I am missing something simple.

Also, what speed do you guys go at. I feel this runs a bit slow but it digs so fast I would not want the motor to spin an faster.

 

[sandman2234]

Pto post hole diggers are different than hydraulic powered ones. If you have a pto one and you just let it drop as fast as it will dig, it will just auger itself into the ground and then pick up the front of the tractor in packed dirt. With pto, you have no options but to dig it out unles you are lucky enough that it pulls itself out with the weight of the tractor. With hydraulic powered, you can just reverse it and it comes back out. The best speed is probably slower than you are running, while still moving the dirt out without digging faster than the dirt is coming to the top. Slow is safer, so consider a restriction or bypass to limit flow if yours is running too fast.
David from jax

 

[hosspuller]

So there is the suggestion of a level, and I got it being a 2 man job.

But, How do you install a level that lets you know the pitch (front to back) when you are sitting on a seat? I guess a mirror gag might work but I bet I am missing something simple.

you could install an metal arrow freely hanging on the side of your motor frame. You could damp the arrow's movement with heavy grease at the pivot . Then a salvaged side view mirror to see when it moves out of plumb. But two electrical contacts on either side with differential indicator lights would be a lot sexier.

 

[MossRoad]

So there is the suggestion of a level, and I got it being a 2 man job.

But, How do you install a level that lets you know the pitch (front to back) when you are sitting on a seat? I guess a mirror gag might work but I bet I am missing something simple.

Also, what speed do you guys go at. I feel this runs a bit slow but it digs so fast I would not want the motor to spin an faster.

Before you start the hole, with the auger tip hanging above the ground, doesn't gravity center it forward and backward and left and right?

 

[woodlandfarms]

Yes Moss, it centers up, but as you dig down the arc of the lift arm comes into play. None of the test holes I have dug have been anywhere near straight. They are not terribly far off but I would love to improve my skills.

I have no experience with this kind of implement, I can say I have only seen a couple of holes being drilled before so I am learning on this one.

thanks again for all the advice

Carl